State Department Rescinds Terrorist Designation of GREEK Guerilla Group November 17

17N_oplismos2_356_355 The U.S. State Department revoked the designation of GREEK urban guerilla group November 17 as a terrorist organization, ...

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Jailed Terrorist Maziotis Sends Attack Threats from Behind Bars

Imprisoned terrorist Nikos Maziotis threatened that there will be new terrorist attacks through a text posted on an anarchist website. Through the text, Maziotis calls Greeks to revolt by creating a revolutionary platform. He explains that revolution means that a big part of society overtakes power with guns and violence. The text concludes with the phrases: “Armed assault to occupy all forts of power, the Parliament, ministries, banks and the Bank of Greece. We will disarm the Police and Army. Social revolution is the only solution.” Maziotis is currently in Korydallos prison in the same wing as the imprisoned members of the anarchist group Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire. He is currently on trial in the Court of Appeals for the case of his own anarchist group, Revolutionary Struggle.

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US and Turkey Worried About ‘November 17′ Member Savvas Xeros’ Possible Early Release

The United States and Turkey have expressed their concern regarding the scenarios that want former “November 17” member and convicted terrorist Savvas Xeros released due to health reasons. On Friday, the leftist-led Greek government has passed a new law according to which inmates with heavy disabilities can turn their sentences to house arrest. A State Department official told journalists that the American government is concerned that the legislation passed, aiming at solving the overcrowding problem of Greek jails, will benefit convicted terrorists. On its behalf, the Greek government is underlining that this would not be the case as the convicts serving perennial terms will be under house arrest and under strict custodianship. According to Greek media reports, the issue will also be tabled in talks to be held later today in Washington between visiting Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and the US State Secretary John Kerry. In addition, according to Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah, Ankara also expressed its concern about Xeros’ possible release. On his part, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgic said any move to lighten the sentences of “November 17″ members would be viewed as “weakness in counter-terrorism efforts and a serious violation of terror attack victims’ rights.” Xeros, who has been convicted to five consecutive life sentences plus an additional 25 years after being found guilty for five assassinations, armed robberies, bomb plannings and participation in Greece’s largest terrorist organization, “November 17.” Xeros suffers from multiple scleroses and has lost most of his sight. He is one of three siblings convicted 10 years ago for participating in the terrorist group’s activities, while his brother Christodoulos Xeros was arrested again in early January after he escaped Korydallos prison and was on the run since January 2014. On June 29, 2002, Greek police captured injured suspect Savvas Xeros, following a failed bombing attempt at the Minoan Flying Dolphins ferry company offices in Piraeus. An investigation led to the discovery of two safe houses and the arrests of six more suspects, among them his two brothers. Among others, Xeros was found guilty for the assassinations of Captain William Nordeen, the US Defense and Naval Attache to Greece in 1988, and US Air Force Sergeant Ronald Stewart, three years later. “November 17″ was also responsible for murdering Turkish diplomats Cetin Gorgu in 1991 and Haluk Sipahioglu in 1994.

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Two Suspected Terrorists Arrested in Athens After German Request

The Greek police counter-terrorism unit said on Saturday that they made two arrests in Athens following a request from German authorities. A counter-terrorism police operation in Germany resulted in nine arrests on April 15. According to German police, the two men, who were residing in Greece, were part of a group that was planning terrorist attacks in Germany. Greek police officers said that they arrested a 47-year-old German citizen on Wednesday who was wanted by authorities in Germany and France on terrorism charges. He had been convicted to four years in prison by a Paris court in 2011 for being involved in a terrorist group. The second suspect was arrested on Saturday morning. A 56-year-old Turkish man who has been living in Greece since 1987. Both men were arrested in Athens. No further information was released by police, other than the fact that extradition proceedings for the German citizen began immediately after his arrest.

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Terrorism in MidEast fraught with collapse of many countries — Greek defense minister

New types of threats are emerging, Greek Defence Minister told the 4th International Security Conference in Moscow, terrorist attacks by Islamic fanatics, confessional conflicts among them

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New Terrorist Safe House Found

Greek Police have found another safe house they believed was used by then-fugitive November 17 convicted terrorist Christodoulos Xiros last year.

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Foreign Ministry announcement regarding the terrorist attack in Tunis

" Greece will remain at the side of every country that is afflicted by the irrational violence of terrorism," the Ministry said

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How Boko Haram Uses Female Suicide Bombers To Terrorize Nigeria

Every week, The WorldPost asks an expert to shed light on a topic making headlines around the world. Today, we speak with Elizabeth Pearson about Boko Haram's use of female suicide bombers. Last Sunday, a small girl strapped with explosives killed herself and five others at a market in Potiskum, a town in northeast Nigeria. Witnesses said the girl looked about 7 years old. The week before that, a young woman blew herself up at a bus station in the nearby town of Damaturu, leaving at least 10 people dead. Witnesses said they thought the bomber looked about 16. Most of the casualties were children who had been begging nearby. The bombings are widely believed to be the work of Boko Haram, the extremist group that is carrying out a brutal insurgency in northeast Nigeria and that last year kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls in the town of Chibok. The group has stepped up its suicide attacks in the past year, particularly those involving girls and women. The WorldPost discussed the rise in attacks with Elizabeth Pearson, a gender and radicalization researcher in defense studies at King's College London. She's also a member of the Nigeria Security Network and has written about female suicide bombers in Nigeria. When did Boko Haram start using suicide bombers? Boko Haram carried out its first suicide bombing fairly recently, in 2011. It was a significant development. Nigeria does not have a history of suicide bombing and suicide is not culturally accepted. When did the group first use female suicide bombers? The first female suicide bombing was reported in June last year, when a middle-aged woman blew herself up at army barracks in Gombe, northeast Nigeria. This was the first of a wave of suicide attacks by women and girls in Nigeria. There were six such attacks in six weeks. Have the attacks continued at the same pace? After the first wave in the summer, there was a brief lull, but since November there have been several attacks by female suicide bombers each month. In total, 27 women and girls have reportedly been involved in suicide attacks in the country. We're also still seeing suicide bombings by men. The intensity of the attacks is striking in a global perspective. In 2014, Nigeria saw around 85 percent of all female suicide bombings around the world. Boko Haram has embraced this tactic with vigor. What do you think motivates the group to use suicide bombers? A man injured in a suicide blast is taken to hospital in Potiskum, Nigeria, Jan. 12, 2015. (AMINU ABUBAKAR/AFP/Getty Images) Many analysts understood Boko Haram's first suicide attacks to indicate growing connections between Boko Haram and international Islamic militant groups. Recently, we've seen growing evidence of such connections, whether aspirational, ideological or financial. Some of Boko Haram's recent videos resemble the work of the media wing of ISIS [the Islamic State], and there have been reports of foreign-language-speaking militants in Nigeria. Yet the use of female suicide bombers suggests Boko Haram will go out on a limb when it wants. Female suicide bombers and women on the battlefield in general are not advocated by al Qaeda-affiliated clerics. One exception was al Qaeda in Iraq under the leadership of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi [from 2004 to 2006]. One reason Boko Haram may have adopted this tactic is to capitalize on anxiety about the Chibok schoolgirls. The first wave of female suicide bomb attacks came a few months after Boko Haram kidnapped some 300 schoolgirls in April. The fate of the schoolgirls was a source of great fear and anxiety in Nigeria, and there was much speculation as to whether they were being used in suicide attacks. There's no evidence of this, but it generated a flurry of media attention. Yet the use of female suicide bombers suggests Boko Haram will go out on a limb when it wants. The reason why they began may not be the reason why they continue. The first female suicide bombings preceded a period of territorial expansion for the group. The attacks diverted security forces, allowing the group to capture several towns in northeast Nigeria. If something works, why give it up? Their ambition shows no sign of waning. What do we know about the identity of the female bombers? We often have little or conflicting information. It's a complex situation, compounded by a lack of access to the people and the area, and by unreliable local reports. Further, a lot of attacks are not claimed by any group. Boko Haram is a loose movement, made up of different factions. How are the girls and women recruited or coerced into carrying out attacks? Recently, there have been some indications that families are involved in coercion. A 10-year-old girl who was arrested wearing a suicide vest last July was accompanied by her older sister and another older man. A 13-year-old girl arrested in December said she was coerced into carrying out a suicide attack by her father, who she described as a Boko Haram supporter. Another female suicide bomber last November was reportedly accompanied by two men, suggesting there may have been an element of doubt that she would go through with it. It has been questioned whether we can even describe the children as suicide bombers. If you are 8 years old, you simply cannot provide consent to carrying out a suicide attack. In conflict, women and men are vulnerable in different ways. Female suicide bombers may be mainly coerced, but we can't rule out that some women may be willing to participate in attacks. It's important that we should recognize that there are female supporters of Boko Haram. Although brutal, the group has a strong ideological message. If you are 8 years old, you simply cannot provide consent to carrying out a suicide attack. Does Boko Haram have a female wing? The Nigerian military first reported last July that Boko Haram has a female wing. The military had just arrested three women who it said were recruiting women to the group to be spies or marry fighters. In August, authorities detained a man who they said was training a group of female suicide bombers. But there has been little news about these cases since. But there are no signs of female fighters on the battlefield, for example, among the casualties. But women may play other roles, as they are often more able to evade authorities. In 2013, there were reports of women being arrested for smuggling weapons for Boko Haram. More recently there were arrests of male smugglers dressed as women. Do you expect female suicide bombings to continue? This tactic doesn't seem to be going away in 2015. Boko Haram does face the risk that using children as suicide bombers may end up alienating people. This is the gamble they take. Many analysts suggested that Boko Haram's use of female suicide bombers was an indication of their weakness. Many groups resort to using women suicide bombers when they're under pressure. But Boko Haram did not seem desperate. Their campaign has only grown in intensity. I don't see the group facing a shortage of recruits. They pay people to fight, they force people to fight through threats and kidnappings, and they also have a support base. They only need more people as their ambition has grown. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. More from The WorldPost's Weekly Interview Series: - Have We Got ISIS All Wrong? - Anguish In Argentina After Prosecutor's Mysterious Death - Could The New Syriza Government Be Good For Greece's Economy? - Naming The Dead: One Group's Struggle To Record Deaths From U.S. Drone Strikes In Pakistan

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Two Persons Alleged to Be Greek Terrorist Xeros' Accomplices Arrested

Xeros Greek Police arrested two suspects related to convicted terrorist Christodoulos Xeros' case, said police sources on Saturday. The two arrested ...

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How Boko Haram Uses Female Suicide Bombers To Terrorize Nigeria

Every week, The WorldPost asks an expert to shed light on a topic making headlines around the world. Today, we speak with Elizabeth Pearson about Boko Haram's use of female suicide bombers. Last Sunday, a small girl strapped with explosives killed herself and five others at a market in Potiskum, a town in northeast Nigeria. Witnesses said the girl looked about 7 years old. The week before that, a young woman blew herself up at a bus station in the nearby town of Damaturu, leaving at least 10 people dead. Witnesses said they thought the bomber looked about 16. Most of the casualties were children who had been begging nearby. The bombings are widely believed to be the work of Boko Haram, the extremist group that is carrying out a brutal insurgency in northeast Nigeria and that last year kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls in the town of Chibok. The group has stepped up its suicide attacks in the past year, particularly those involving girls and women. The WorldPost discussed the rise in attacks with Elizabeth Pearson, a gender and radicalization researcher in defense studies at King's College London. She's also a member of the Nigeria Security Network and has written about female suicide bombers in Nigeria. When did Boko Haram start using suicide bombers? Boko Haram carried out its first suicide bombing fairly recently, in 2011. It was a significant development. Nigeria does not have a history of suicide bombing and suicide is not culturally accepted. When did the group first use female suicide bombers? The first female suicide bombing was reported in June last year, when a middle-aged woman blew herself up at army barracks in Gombe, northeast Nigeria. This was the first of a wave of suicide attacks by women and girls in Nigeria. There were six such attacks in six weeks. Have the attacks continued at the same pace? After the first wave in the summer, there was a brief lull, but since November there have been several attacks by female suicide bombers each month. In total, 27 women and girls have reportedly been involved in suicide attacks in the country. We're also still seeing suicide bombings by men. The intensity of the attacks is striking in a global perspective. In 2014, Nigeria saw around 85 percent of all female suicide bombings around the world. Boko Haram has embraced this tactic with vigor. What do you think motivates the group to use suicide bombers? A man injured in a suicide blast is taken to hospital in Potiskum, Nigeria, Jan. 12, 2015. (AMINU ABUBAKAR/AFP/Getty Images) Many analysts understood Boko Haram's first suicide attacks to indicate growing connections between Boko Haram and international Islamic militant groups. Recently, we've seen growing evidence of such connections, whether aspirational, ideological or financial. Some of Boko Haram's recent videos resemble the work of the media wing of ISIS [the Islamic State], and there have been reports of foreign-language-speaking militants in Nigeria. Yet the use of female suicide bombers suggests Boko Haram will go out on a limb when it wants. Female suicide bombers and women on the battlefield in general are not advocated by al Qaeda-affiliated clerics. One exception was al Qaeda in Iraq under the leadership of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi [from 2004 to 2006]. One reason Boko Haram may have adopted this tactic is to capitalize on anxiety about the Chibok schoolgirls. The first wave of female suicide bomb attacks came a few months after Boko Haram kidnapped some 300 schoolgirls in April. The fate of the schoolgirls was a source of great fear and anxiety in Nigeria, and there was much speculation as to whether they were being used in suicide attacks. There's no evidence of this, but it generated a flurry of media attention. Yet the use of female suicide bombers suggests Boko Haram will go out on a limb when it wants. The reason why they began may not be the reason why they continue. The first female suicide bombings preceded a period of territorial expansion for the group. The attacks diverted security forces, allowing the group to capture several towns in northeast Nigeria. If something works, why give it up? Their ambition shows no sign of waning. What do we know about the identity of the female bombers? We often have little or conflicting information. It's a complex situation, compounded by a lack of access to the people and the area, and by unreliable local reports. Further, a lot of attacks are not claimed by any group. Boko Haram is a loose movement, made up of different factions. How are the girls and women recruited or coerced into carrying out attacks? Recently, there have been some indications that families are involved in coercion. A 10-year-old girl who was arrested wearing a suicide vest last July was accompanied by her older sister and another older man. A 13-year-old girl arrested in December said she was coerced into carrying out a suicide attack by her father, who she described as a Boko Haram supporter. Another female suicide bomber last November was reportedly accompanied by two men, suggesting there may have been an element of doubt that she would go through with it. It has been questioned whether we can even describe the children as suicide bombers. If you are 8 years old, you simply cannot provide consent to carrying out a suicide attack. In conflict, women and men are vulnerable in different ways. Female suicide bombers may be mainly coerced, but we can't rule out that some women may be willing to participate in attacks. It's important that we should recognize that there are female supporters of Boko Haram. Although brutal, the group has a strong ideological message. If you are 8 years old, you simply cannot provide consent to carrying out a suicide attack. Does Boko Haram have a female wing? The Nigerian military first reported last July that Boko Haram has a female wing. The military had just arrested three women who it said were recruiting women to the group to be spies or marry fighters. In August, authorities detained a man who they said was training a group of female suicide bombers. But there has been little news about these cases since. But there are no signs of female fighters on the battlefield, for example, among the casualties. But women may play other roles, as they are often more able to evade authorities. In 2013, there were reports of women being arrested for smuggling weapons for Boko Haram. More recently there were arrests of male smugglers dressed as women. Do you expect female suicide bombings to continue? This tactic doesn't seem to be going away in 2015. Boko Haram does face the risk that using children as suicide bombers may end up alienating people. This is the gamble they take. Many analysts suggested that Boko Haram's use of female suicide bombers was an indication of their weakness. Many groups resort to using women suicide bombers when they're under pressure. But Boko Haram did not seem desperate. Their campaign has only grown in intensity. I don't see the group facing a shortage of recruits. They pay people to fight, they force people to fight through threats and kidnappings, and they also have a support base. They only need more people as their ambition has grown. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. More from The WorldPost's Weekly Interview Series: - Have We Got ISIS All Wrong? - Anguish In Argentina After Prosecutor's Mysterious Death - Could The New Syriza Government Be Good For Greece's Economy? - Naming The Dead: One Group's Struggle To Record Deaths From U.S. Drone Strikes In Pakistan

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Greek foreign minister expresses condolences for Copenhagen attacks

Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias visited the Embassy of Denmark in Athens on Monday to express to the Danish Ambassador the government’s condolences for the terrorist attacks in Copenhagen on Saturday and Sunday. In Copenhagen, two ...

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One week in Europe: In aftermath of Greek election

The result of the Greek election and its impact on EU policy was the main focus this week in the European Union. But talks also continued on how to fight terrorism following the terror attacks in Paris. The victory of left-wing Syriza evoked not only discussions among finance ministers in the eurogroup. It also had […]

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Bulgaria Extradites Fritz-Joly Joachin, Man Suspected Of Link To Paris Attacks, To France

PARIS (AP) — A Frenchman wanted in connection with deadly terrorist attacks in Paris has been extradited from Bulgaria to France, where he is facing charges of links to terrorism. Fritz-Joly Joachin was arrested Jan. 1 on an unrelated warrant while trying to cross from Bulgaria into Turkey. French police say that Joachin, 29, was an associate of the Kouachi brothers, who killed 12 people in an attack Jan. 7 against newspaper Charlie Hebdo. Joachin is accused of participating in an organized crime group with a terrorist aim, and having links to a network feeding fighters to Syria. A judicial official said he arrived in France on Thursday, and is expected to appear before a judge imminently. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation. The Kouachi brothers and gunman Amedy Coulibaly were killed by police after attacking the newspaper and a kosher market. French authorities have handed four others preliminary charges on suspicion of links to the attackers. European governments have been on alert for potential attacks by Islamic extremists, especially since the Paris attacks. In Belgium, security forces thwarted what they said was a major terror attack against police with raids Jan. 15 that left two suspects dead. A suspect believed linked to that case was extradited from Greece to Belgium on Thursday. Belgian authorities said the suspect was officially charged with participation in a terrorist group. ___ Raf Casert in Brussels and Nicolas Vaux-Montagny in Paris contributed to this report.

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Greek Police Arrest Xeros’ Associate

Another one of Christodoulos Xeros’ associates was arrested on Wednesday, January 21 by officers of the Greek Anti-terrorist Unit in Glyfada, Athens. A warrant for his arrest had been issued by the Greek magistrate, on the charges of belonging and ...

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Greek Police Arrest Xeros’ Associate

Another one of Christodoulos Xeros’ associates was arrested on Wednesday, January 21 by officers of the Greek Anti-terrorist Unit in Glyfada, Athens. A warrant for his arrest had been issued by the Greek magistrate, on the charges of belonging and ...

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Iran Has A Lot To Gain From The Death Of A Crusading Argentine Prosecutor

The sacking of Yemen's capital by Iranian-assisted Houthi rebels hasn't been the week's only positive geopolitical development from Tehran's perspective. On Jan. 18, Alberto Nisman, the Argentinian prosecutor responsible for investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires — along with a suspected quid pro quo between the two country's governments partly aimed at concealing Iran's involvement in the attack — was found dead in his apartment. Nisman was scheduled to testify to a parliamentary committee the next day and was expected to accuse the government of president Cristina Fernandez Kirchner of swapping increased trade with Iran for a promise not to prosecute the Iranian officials who plotted the attack. Nisman's assassination is tentatively being considered as a suicide, with the jurist felled by a single bullet wound to the head and clutching the gun that killed him. But there are indications that it may have been something much more sinister. The lack of an exit wound suggested the fatal shot was fired at a further distance than Nisman could have managed had the wound been self-inflicted. His last WhatsApp was a photo of stacks of documentation related to the next day's testimony and Nisman had apparently given his maid a grocery list for the following week. A 10-person government security detail was reportedly pulled off of his apartment the night of his assassination. Most damningly, there was no gunpowder residue found on Nisman's hands, physical evidence that he didn't discharge a firearm prior to his death. Theories abound as to who killed him and why. But no matter who's responsible for Nisman's death, the Iranian regime benefits. After a decade of work, Nisman concluded that Iran's government planned and executed the 1994 carbomb attack on the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA), in which 85 people were killed. As Washington Institute for Near East Policy scholar Matthew Levitt recounts in his book Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God, Iranian intelligence chief Ali Fallahian "was given overall operational responsibility for the attack," which was approved by Iran's Supreme National Security Council on August 14, 1993. The act was carried out through a terrorist cell organized by an Iranian-born and Buenos Aires-based Shi'ite cleric named Mohsen Rabbani who had been given a sinecure at the Iranian embassy in Buenos Aires just months before the attack. Phone records connect the embassy to a number in Brazil's border region belonging to a safe-house used by agents from Hezbollah, the Iranian regime's adjunct in Lebanon, responsible for actually executing the attack. The AMIA bombing was one of the worst anti-Semitic massacres anywhere on earth in decades. But it was part of what was then a consistent policy of big-ticket state-sponsored terrorism for Tehran's revolutionary regime, which had only been in power for 15 years at the time. Iranian agents assisted in Hezbollah and Shi'ite militia attacks on the US Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983, and on attacks on the US embassy in the city in 1984 and 1984, that killed 394 people total. Hezbollah and a second Shi'ite group carried out of a series of attacks in Kuwait in 1983 that targeted the US and French embassies and nearly destroyed an oil terminal. Tehran sent agents to assassinate 4 leading Iranian-Kurdish opposition activists  in a Greek restaurant in Berlin in 1992, while pro-Iranian elements carried out a series of attacks in Paris in the mid-80s to punish France for its support of Saddam Hussein's government during the Iran-Iraq War. In total, Iranian elements assassinated 18 regime opponents on European soil in the late 1980s and early 90s. And Tehran assisted in the Hezbollah attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 23 people in 1992.  In 1997, Mohammad Khatami was elected president. He helped shift the regime's international posture away from the kind of revolutionary confrontation that had dictated the Islamic Republic's foreign affairs up until that point. Nevertheless, Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards continued to export terror with high-level regime approval while Khatami (1997 - 2005) helped re-fashion the Islamic Republic's image as a regime whose actions could be considered increasingly within the mainstream of acceptable international behavior, an objective that's been successfully advanced by Hassan Rouhani, the country's current and similarly reform-minded president. In 2011 Iranian agents were uncovered plotting to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the US in 2011. And in 2012 a Hezbollah suicide bombing targeted Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria, killing 6 people. (Hezbollah operatives came close to pulling off a major attack against the Israeli embassy in Bangkok, Thailand in 2012.) Aside from Shi'ite organizations like Hezbollah and Iraq's Badr Group, the State Department's 2013 citation of Iran group as a state sponsor of terrorism notes its support for Al Qaeda elements in Iraq, some of which later formed the Islamic State. Consequently, the AMIA bombing is a reminder of a period in Iranian history that likely embassies many of the country's current crop of leaders: A time when blatant and essentially unprovoked attacks on civilian targets inside of foreign countries was one of the signal elements of the regime's "revolutionary" foreign policy.  Twenty years after the AMIA bombing, Iran has successfully shed its pariah status while retaining terrorism as an instrument of policy. Nisman's investigation threatened to upset that balance, partly by exposing how Iran managed this feat in the first place. His specific allegation that high-ranking Argentinian politicians had compromised the integrity of the investigation into the AMIA bombing at Iran's behest only proved how badly political elites in both countries want the truth of the incident to remain buried. And it showed how Iran believed it could edge its way back to respectability while continuing to support and abet terrorism far beyond its borders. Nisman's testimony would have shown that the AMIA bombing wasn't jut a discrete event, but an ongoing, two decade-long conspiracy that implicated Argentina and Iran in the execution and cover-up of a major act of terrorism.  Nisman's death may end up being part of that very conspiracy. His absence keeps the story buried: It is now even less likely that the attack's Iranian plotters will face justice in Argentina (or countries with extradition treaties with Argentina), and his death shields Argentine leaders who treated the AMIA attack as an dreary diplomatic inconvenience rather than state-sponsored mass murder. However, Nisman believed the evidence he had collected would outlive him. Four days before his death, he told an Argentine TV interviewer that "With Nisman around or not, the evidence is there,” according to the New York Times.SEE ALSO: Iran's Supreme Leader is the real reason nuclear talks are deadlocked Join the conversation about this story »

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French ambassador thanks Greeks for solidarity after terrorist attacks

The French ambassador to Greece, Jean Loup Kuhn-Delforge, expressed his gratitude on Tuesday for the solidarity shown by the Greek people after the terrorist attacks in Paris. In a ...

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Europe, France to unveil anti-terror plans after Paris attacks

Paris (AFP) - French and European officials will unveil details of anti-terror measures Wednesday to counter threats of new attacks and strengthen cooperation in the wake of deadly shootings in Paris.In the French capital, on high alert since jihadist attacks left 17 dead two weeks ago, Prime Minister Manuel Valls will outline promised measures to boost security forces.The worst attack on French soil in decades put Europe on high alert and a wave of police raids, investigations and extraditions have taken place across the jittery continent.European Commissioners in Brussels will meet to discuss the 28-nation bloc's new counterterrorism strategy, including changes to the region's Schengen free travel area and intelligence cooperation.Meanwhile in Washington, President Barack Obama said the US stood side by side with terror victims around the world, citing the Paris attacks in his State of the Nation address late Tuesday."We will continue to hunt down terrorists and dismantle their networks," he said, vowing action against "terrorists who pose a direct threat to us and our allies".Last week Valls announced the creation of special files for people linked to terrorism, and said prisoners linked to radical Islam could be isolated in jail, a hotbed for radicalisation.Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has said intelligence services could receive additional funding while security forces could get more powerful weapons and improved equipment.According to a source, 400 million euros ($460 million) will go to the police for hiring, upgrading information systems and equipment. - Raids, arrests across Europe - Four men suspected of supplying one of the gunmen behind the Paris attacks with weapons and vehicles were brought before an anti-terror judge Tuesday, the first to face possible charges over the shootings that shook France to its core.The three gunmen who carried out coordinated attacks from January 7-9 were killed in dramatic police sieges, and prosecutors are now hoping to pin down those who assisted them.Prosecutors called Tuesday for the men believed to have supplied gunman Amedy Coulibaly with weapons and vehicles to remain in detention and be charged with conspiracy to commit terrorist acts.Coulibaly was behind the murder of four hostages at a Jewish supermarket and the murder of a policewoman after brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi gunned down 12 people at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.The attacks prompted a flurry of police activity across Europe.In Germany some 200 police carried out raids on 13 apartments in Berlin and other locations to find evidence against two men arrested last week for allegedly backing jihadist violence in Syria.This followed raids in Belgium last week that foiled potential attacks against police officers, and led to arrests in several European countries.Greece on Tuesday ordered the extradition of a 33-year-old Algerian man with suspected links to the jihadist cell dismantled in Belgium.The suspected mastermind of the plot, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a 27-year-old Belgian of Moroccan descent, remains at large.And in Bulgaria, a court ruled that a Frenchman who knew two of the Paris attackers should be returned to his home country.France had issued an arrest warrant for Muslim convert Fritz-Joly Joachin, 29, who denies being an extremist but was detained after trying to cross from Bulgaria into Turkey before the attacks.In southern France, five Russians from Chechnya were arrested on Tuesday with what police described as a dangerous amount of explosives, although the case was believed to be linked to organised crime and not radical Islam. - Boosted security measures - Many EU states have pushed for a US-style database of air travellers' details on the grounds that it would help track Islamist suspects, but the European Parliament has so far blocked the scheme saying it would breach civil liberties.Some European nations have also been pushing for a tightening of the Schengen visa-free zone."They will discuss subjects including passenger name records and data retention, the functioning of the Schengen area and cooperation between security services," Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told a briefing on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's meeting.The fallout from the attacks has led to massive protests in Muslim countries, furious after Charlie Hebdo magazine responded to the killing of its staff by publishing a new cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed.Banned by Islam, the depiction of the prophet was taken as a searing insult to Muslims who burned French flags, and threatened the country in protests that have taken place in Chechnya, Afghanistan, Gaza, Iran and Pakistan. In Niger protests turned deadly as 10 people died and dozens of churches were torched.The attacks have forced France to face up to its failure to integrate poorer, migrant families, with Valls admitting on Tuesday that the country was plagued by "social and ethnic apartheid".Join the conversation about this story »

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4 Men In Paris Court Are 1st To Face Terror Attacks Charges

PARIS (AP) — French anti-terror prosecutors sought Tuesday to charge four men in connection with the attacks in Paris that left 20 people dead, which would be the first suspects charged in the country's bloodiest terrorist attacks in decades. The four men awaited an anti-terror judge's decision early Wednesday on whether to open preliminary investigations against them. The possible charges were expected just hours before the French government was to unveil new measures aimed at helping head off future attacks, giving police more power to tap phones, monitor Web sites and force Internet companies to block messages of hate posted online. Prime minister Manuel Valls will present new security measures Wednesday that will include efforts to increase intelligence-gathering against jihadis and other radicals, block their activities on the Internet, and prevent them from collaborating inside prisons or traveling abroad to fight, President Francois Hollande said. France is on high security alert after the country's worst terrorist attacks in decades. The court case and the arrests came as Valls urged his nation to do some soul-searching about the country's deep ethnic divisions and declared that fighting hatred, anti-Semitism and racism was a top priority, especially in France's impoverished housing projects. The Paris prosecutor's office said the four men in court Tuesday were suspected of providing logistical support to Amedy Coulibaly, one of the terrorists killed by police, and requested they be detained longer on weapons and terrorism charges. Coulibaly shot a policewoman to death on the outskirts of Paris and then killed four hostages inside a kosher supermarket before being shot dead by police. It is not clear whether the four suspects, all in their 20s, were involved in plotting the attacks or even aware of Coulibaly's plans. Five others arrested in the investigation were released without charge, prosecutors said. No one has been charged with direct involvement in the Jan. 7-9 Paris terror attacks. Coulibaly claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group while the two brothers who attacked the Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly said they were backed by al-Qaida in Yemen. In Bulgaria, a court on Tuesday agreed to extradite a Frenchman who knew one of the two Kouachi brothers who massacred 12 people at the newspaper. Fritz-Joly Joachin told the Bulgarian court he was innocent and wanted to return to Paris to clear his name. Five others arrested in the investigation of the terror attacks in France were released without charge, prosecutors said. Meanwhile, France honored a Mali-born employee of the kosher market who saved lives there by granting him citizenship. Lassana Bathily, 24, was in the store's underground stockroom when Coulibaly burst in upstairs and killed four people. He turned off the freezer and hid a group of shoppers inside before sneaking out to speak to police and help the operation to free the 15 hostages and kill the attacker. Bathily has lived in France since 2006. He had filed an application for French citizenship last year. Valls told journalists Tuesday that the attacks should force France to look at the "apartheid" within. The conservative Socialist whose hard line on Islamic extremism has won many fans said he wasn't making excuses for crime or terrorism, "but we also have to look at the reality of our country." Valls said memories have dimmed of the three weeks of riots by disaffected youths in 2005 that shook France. "And yet, the stigmas remain ... a territorial, social and ethnic apartheid that has imposed itself on our country," he said. In response to the 2005 riots, the French government spent hundreds of millions of euros (dollars) to improve conditions in its rundown suburbs, with little success. Unemployment among young people in the housing projects is well above the national average and state buildings are often targeted for vandalism and arson. "The fight against hatred, anti-Semitism in all its forms, racism — these fights are absolutely urgent," Valls said. Young people who refused to take part in a national minute of silence for the terror attack victims "are symptoms of something that is not going well." French authorities also arrested five ethnic Chechens from Russia Tuesday in raids in southern France, including one whom a mayor said was found with a cache of explosives. French authorities said the men had no established links to terrorism but did have ties to other crimes. In Athens, an Algerian man suspected of jihadi terrorist links in Belgium appeared before a Greek prosecutor for an extradition hearing on being sent to Belgium. The suspect, whose name was not released, was detained Saturday in Athens, where he lives. Belgium launched a large anti-terrorism sweep last week, during which two suspects were killed and one wounded, that netted several returnees from Islamic holy war in Syria. ___ Greg Keller in Paris, Veselin Toshkov in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Nicholas Paphitis from Athens contributed.

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The Guardian view on counter-terror cooperation: walking the line

After the Paris attacks, Europe needs to engage afresh with Muslim nations, but not at the expense of basic rightsTen days after the Paris attacks, the security repercussions continue. Yesterday Sir John Sawers, recently retired as head of MI6, called for renewed cooperation between intelligence agencies and internet companies. Meanwhile, European foreign ministers met to strengthen anti-terrorism coordination within the EU, and called for a stronger alliance with Arab states in combating jihadi networks. The EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said: “The threat is not only the one we faced in Paris, but it is spreading in other parts of the world, starting from Muslim countries.”Better coordination is undoubtedly needed to foil further attacks in Europe, where Islamist terrorists have struck in three capitals – Madrid, London and now Paris. Anti-terrorism raids in France and Belgium confirm that the threat continues. The Paris killers had links with networks across the Middle East, including in Yemen. So the need to share intelligence to counter groups that themselves operate and communicate easily across borders cannot be disputed. A further illustration of this came when an Algerian national appeared before a Greek prosecutor on Monday over a possible link to a foiled Islamist plot to attack police in Belgium. Continue reading...

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